Optimizing Carbon Black to Balance Tire Wear and Rolling Resistance

For future tire developments rolling resistance and tire wear continue to be the key parameters. The global trend for increased energy efficiency requires further reduction of rolling resistance of tires without sacrificing abrasion resistance.

As tire tests are very time-consuming and expensive, reliable lab-tests are essential for the cost-effective tire development. Both tire manufacturers as well as raw material suppliers can reduce development times and costs by using modern test methods. In order to predict rolling resistance of tires several tests are established. Hysteresis loss, measured in the lab, in general correlates well with rolling resistance of tires on the road. However, as tire wear is a complex process depending on various parameters like road surface, load and driving conditions, predictive testing is a challenge. As a consequence several test methods to quantify abrasion of rubber compounds are commonly used.

Opportunities and limitations for the practical relevance of test methods can be deduced from an analysis of testing parameters of the different methods like DIN, Akron, Grosch or Lambourn abrasion. Comparison of parameters like slip angle or driving distance between lab test methods and tire tests on the road gives a guideline for the selection of a suitable test method for the specific application. Correlation between street and lab tests could be demonstrated in the past. Now, it will be shown in which way newly developed Carbon Blacks contribute to balance tire wear and rolling resistance of tires. The effect of analytical parameters like specific surface area, structure or aggregate size distribution will be highlighted as well as the influence of mixing parameters on abrasion and rolling resistance.